It is widely known in the gardening community that a garden should be watered 2-3 times a week. However, there are cases when you should not water your garden even when a day of your regular watering comes. Do not water just because a couple of days have passed since you watered. Always check your soil first before you water it.
You should not water your garden:
- When your garden is still full of moisture and therefore does not need more watering. This might happen when there was heavy rainfall the day before or last night and the soil had a good soak.
- You should not water your garden when it is frozen underneath the surface. This can happen especially in early spring and late autumn when we have some plants growing in our gardens during some frosty nights.
- Do not water your garden when your plants have been overwatered due to heavy rains or excessive watering, and the soil is still very wet and plants need to get their feet to dry off and recover. This happens to me especially in spring when we get lots of rain. I do not have to water my garden for a few weeks. I lost many direct sowed carrots seeds one year due to too much rain.
- If your plants are affected with a disease and need to be removed before watering in order for the disease to be contained. Remove the diseased plants, and foliage first and then water. Watering the garden along with the diseased plants could spread the disease to other healthy plants.
How to water plants correctly
The best practice is to water your garden about 2 to 3 times per week. Always give your garden a good soak and water deeply. Always water your plants at the base, close to the soil surface. Watering your plants at the base will best deliver water to the roots of the plants. Water will soak directly into the soil above the roots reaching them in no time.
If you water your plants in a shallow fashion, the soil will be moist only on the surface while the roots will remain water deprived. Some roots might benefit from shallow or no watering at first because it will encourage them to grow more in search of water. But if your plants are water-deprived for long periods of time the plants will not develop to their full potential. Instead, it will put most of its energy into growing roots scavenging for water, and fighting for survival, instead of putting the energy into growing and fruiting.
An industry practice says to give your garden 1 inch of water a week. If you have no idea how to do that or are still confused about how to water your garden properly, I invite you to read one of my articles in which I walk you through How and when to water vegetable garden, including how to measure 1 inch of watering a week.
One of the biggest mistakes gardeners make is to water their plans overhead. Overhead watering will deliver water to the foliage of the plant which will distribute water around and away from the plant, not to the base of it. This will result in an incorrect water delivery where you will be able to see wet soil around the plant but underneath it, the soil might remain completely dry, as well as it will make it difficult for the roots to reach the water as it was delivered away from them and not directly to them.
How deep water should go when watering
Water should go deep enough to reach the roots. In general, it should penetrate the soil about 6-8 inches deep.
The other mistake gardeners use to make is not watering their plants deeply enough. Just because we see the surface of the soil is wet does not mean the plant was watered deeply. I used to dig with my shovel after I watered my garden to see how deeply I watered my beans. I was very surprised after I dug. What seemed to me as a good long soak, penetrated only half an inch deep into the soil. Everything deeper than half an inch was completely dry. I could not believe my eyes! I thought I watered for a long time and the soil looked very moist on the surface, but still, just under half an inch, it was completely dry. I invite you to dig after finished watering, to find out how deeply you watered. You might get surprised by how much water and time you actually need to water your plants deep enough.
When is the best time to water plants?
Morning watering anytime between 6 am-9 am is most recommended. It is for a simple reason to eliminate water evaporation due to the sun, as well as to give enough time for the water to reach the roots of the plants and for the plants to soak up all the moisture and become well-hydrated to withstand the heat of the day. Foliage will also have enough time to dry off.
The second best time to water your garden is in the afternoon after 4 pm when the heat of the day is less intense, but the foliage still has time to dry off before the night falls.
It is not recommended to water gardens late in the evening or at night to prevent disease susceptible foliage from fungus or disease. Evening watering will keep your soil surface and foliage wet for hours which will invite night pests to feast on your garden.
I tried to water my garden in the evening because I wanted my plants to enjoy moist soil for long hours before a hot day. This practice only invited slugs into my garden and they were devouring my herbal garden! Before I started to water in the evening, I barely noticed any slugs, but after the night watering, they were everywhere. I stopped watering my garden in the evening and rather switches to water in the morning. Perhaps, if you live in a very dry climate, an evening watering might work for you. Please let us know in the comment if, for any of you, an evening watering works.
If you run on a busy schedule and morning or afternoon watering is not an option, then water, when you have time, do it. It is better to water your garden deeply in the middle of the day than to neglect to water it completely. I have a friend with a newborn and a couple more children under 9. Most days she only has midday to water her garden when some kids are asleep. Midday is the best time to water for her.
Feel free to share with me when is your best time to water your garden, and what mistakes you made watering.
Should you water garden in the morning or at night?
How and when to water vegetable garden
